Divine Art looks to make it 17 wins in a row on Friday night at Cal Expo when she heads the cast for the $7,500 Filly and Mare Open.
Watch and Wager LLC will conduct 10 races with first post set for 6:45 p.m. (PST) and the main event is scheduled as the third contest on the evening.
Divine Art is a four-year-old Alberta-bred daughter of Outrageous Art who is owned, trained and driven by Gerry Longo.
An O'Brien Award runner-up as a three-year-old, she recorded the first 12 wins of her streak in her native Canada and has continued her perfection at Cal Expo while joining the Longo barn and putting her class and versatility on display.
Two starts back, the bay dynamo stepped up to the distaff Open ranks, sat a tracking journey for Longo to the drive and flew home when room developed along the rail in deep stretch to prevail by three-quarters of a length.
Sent off at 1-5 in last week’s Diamond Horse Alliance Filly and Mare Free-For-All, Divine Art did not disappoint her many backers as she battled hard first-over to the drive, ignited when it counted and drew off while equalling her lifetime mark with the 1:53.2 clocking.
Taking her on this Friday are Give Me This Dance, I Will Do It, Blue Star Mystic, Rockin With Lou and Lucky Lil Lady.
This week the trotters and pacers will be in action on Friday and Saturday night, with no racing on Super Bowl Sunday.
Lucky Lil Lady stepping up her game
Lucky Lil Lady continued her ascent up the class ladder at Cal Expo last Sunday when she captured the Filly and Mare Open Pace, benefitting from a perfect two-hole trip with Luke Plano.
The four-year-old Indiana-bred daughter of Luck Be Withyou carries the banner of Robin Clements, hails from the Quentin Schneider barn and was making it two in a row with that score at the head of the class.
“Last summer, I was looking for a young mare that had the possibility to be a top one at Cal Expo and ended up getting Lucky Lil Lady off of Ongait,” related Clements. “I had talked with Jacob Fox, who had raced against her in condition claimers and liked her prospects. It didn't hurt that her sire, Luck Be Withyou, was also a Breeders Crown winner at age two.
“She wasn't staked for the Sire Stakes in Indiana, but I still ended up paying a pretty penny for her. I kept her with Jacob for the summer and she really surprised us as she matured as she had only had eight lifetime starts at the time I got her.
“Her first start for us she came home a last quarter in :25.4. She cut out a few miles in 1:51 and 1:52 just getting beat at the wire, but she had an impressive kick racing from behind too.”
It was near the end of the summer that Clements sent Lucky Lil Lady to Quentin and Kim Schneider at Running Aces and she would eventually come to California with them.
“I had talked to Luke Plano about her while she was still racing at Hoosier and he started watching her. When she started racing at Aces, I knew Luke would be a good fit, plus he’s very good with the young horses. She cut out a few huge miles and eventually got a win in 1:53.2 in Minnesota.”
Robin admits she wasn’t expecting much with the step up to the Open ranks last weekend but gave Plano plenty of credit for working out a pocket journey and noted she came the fastest final quarter of the night with her :27.1 igniting.
“Quentin has done a great job with her and made a few minor adjustments with her equipment, and she is only maturing better. She still gets a little squirrelly in the race, but she has gone way above what we expected of her in such a short time.
“It's a team effort with Lily and some credit has to go to the rest of the QKs barn with Amanda, Aron and Ed along with Quentin and Kim.”
(With files from Cal Expo)